“Do you think…I can win? I’m up against the Alucia.”
“I can’t make any promises…but I have a plan.”
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Alucia was of the royal line, the bloodless girl who had everything.
Nana was of common birth, and she felt like her only redeeming feature was in magical crafting.
In this final showdown between the two of them, the Pureblood Hybrid, Libra—who knew Alucia’s secret side—was supporting Nana. —That was the main plot of part two of Pureblood Hybrid and Ice Cream.
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“…Wow…,” I muttered to myself while reading it.
This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. So I understood now that it was no coincidence.
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A boy who was good at outlandish schemes joined forces with a hardworking girl, and they aimed to defeat the incredibly clever queen.
—This structure was very similar to that of a story I knew well.
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Nana excelled at the art of making magical crafts, but she was unskilled in combat and other forms of magic. So it was difficult for her to acquire valuable resources from the gold mine on Academy grounds or deep in the Lost Forest.
Alucia, on the other hand, used her bloodless ability to absorb the pure blood of various races into her body, which allowed her to temporarily borrow their powers. Since that experience made her skilled in all areas, there was nothing she was bad at. She was not only excellent at crafting but also talented at magic and in combat, so she was able to enter dangerous places to acquire rare resources.
The rumors were saying that odds were about even, but Libra, who had learned how to succeed at the school, and his good friend Nana knew just how polished Alucia was in every aspect now.
In other words—if they went into the fight without a plan, there was hardly any chance of victory.
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“If taking her head-on won’t work…then let’s take advantage of her weakness.”
“Her weakness…?”
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If they were to compete fair and square, Nana would be defeated by Alucia’s raw talents.
Since Nana was in trouble, Libra carved out a new path with his quick wits and ideas to push his former teacher into a corner. In other words—
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“…I knew it.”
My sense of déjà vu became certainty.
The story was very much like that election—when I’d worked with Mimimi to go up against Hinami. The characters that flowed by on-screen seeped easily into my head, as if they were about me.
Ever since the play, the essence of Kikuchi-san’s stories had been about digging deep into people’s hearts by gathering information about them. So I might even call the resemblance inevitable.
This book was definitely based on the story I’d told her of the election campaign.
But there was just one thing about this novel— just one element that was different from the story I knew.
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—The main character of this novel was not Libra, but Alucia.
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“Ice that never melts, the lifeblood of a sky snake… Okay, now that we have all this, we only need—”
Alucia was steadily getting ready for the competition, but she also felt unsure.
Most likely, if she fought now, she would win by a wide margin.
But that would shatter the pride of her good friend Nana. And since Nana had been focused on magical crafting for ten years, the blow would do unimaginable damage to her.
On the other hand, that was the nature of competition. If you were going to fight, you had to be prepared to lose, and considering Alucia’s future as a member of the royal family, it could be said that she had to take this chance to show off her dominance in this field.
But Alucia didn’t understand—
—what was she trying to win in this tournament for?
What meaning could be found in a title to be won or in victory?
“Because…I’m going to be a ruler,” she muttered as if she was telling that to herself, but the words somehow rang hollow.
“I…have to be.”
Those words implied that she had a sense of duty, but there was no strength of determination in them.
It was true that victory would gain her prestige. When she eventually inherited the throne, a long list of tournament wins during her Academy years would make it easier to gain support from the people.
However—
She gazed at the moonlit night from the balcony on the highest floor of the Academy and murmured:
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“What would it do for me?”
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Breaking her close friend’s pride—
—it would grant her prestige for her future as a ruler, a future she didn’t even want.
Would the worth and recognition and all that she gained really be for her, for herself?
She couldn’t help but feel like the ability and brilliance she’d gained would eventually vanish and leave her empty again, just like when she put others’ blood into her bloodless body.
Is that really what I want to do?
Is this something I need to hurt a friend to accomplish?
“…But I have to do it.”
Still without any answers but propelled by something, Alucia came up with a flawless strategy—
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This storyline was clearly modeled after the election. But the aims of the story’s theme were different from the events I’d lived through.
At that time, I had learned about Mimimi’s inferiority complex, her contradictions, and her uncertainties, and my mind had been on those. I think she really showed me the meaning of effort, and the karma of being unable to think of yourself as special—in other words, the discrepancies created by a fundamental lack of self-esteem.
Mimimi’s sad smile, her desperate words, her tears of regret—they were still deeply embedded in my heart, and I think that experience has enabled me to more deeply understand people who can’t feel confident in themselves.
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However, this story of the magical-crafting competition was all about the emptiness of the bloodless girl Alucia.
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One time, Alucia was looking for a magic vine that was softer than silk but also strong enough to never be cut, and so she headed alone into the depths of the Lost Forest. But then a poisonous bite from a snake got her, and she fell to the ground.
The wound festered.
Since she was bloodless, the poison wouldn’t circulate around her body, but she couldn’t possibly walk properly on that leg anymore. Eventually, some carnivorous animal would find her and devour her.
Alucia imagined this coming, but she was not discouraged.
Then she was saved by a boy called Shareef, a mixed papillon and human boy, but right before losing consciousness, Alucia swiped aside Shareef’s helping hand and muttered:
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“Stop it… I’ve finally been freed from this prison.”
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—Maybe I’m fine just dying like this.
—I was empty to begin with. Even if I died now, it’s just nothing becoming nothing.
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“So it’s fine… Leave me be.”
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I sucked in a breath that made my lips stick to each other, and I realized that my mouth was dry.
Before I knew it, my hand holding my phone felt cold and unnaturally sweaty.
I couldn’t say just how close Alucia’s feelings were to Hinami’s.
You might even say it was breaking the rules to take a character clearly modeled on a real person and depict her in a mental state twisted enough to desire her own death.
But Hinami had said that trying to become number one, helping me with playing the game of life, all of it was in order to prove that she was right. She could only prove that she was right in the real sense by reproducing the results of her efforts. That’s why she continued to repeat this “correct” behavior.
Calling that a prison—didn’t feel wrong to me.